AL East

I wrote last week that now that the New York Yankees have moved on from Cliff Lee, they would look to improve their bullpen instead of their starting rotation. True to form, the Yankees found themselves a reliever to help counteract the recent left-handed acquisitions by the Boston Red Sox.

The Yankees have been doing a lot of waiting this offseason. They waited for Cliff Lee to choose his team. They waited for Derek Jeter to accept their offer. Then they stayed put a while too long and lost out on Zach Greinke. Now they await a decision from Andy Pettitte as to whether or not he will pitch in 2011. 

Today's New York Yankees' primary method of improving involves signing other team's former players for large sums of money, but that wasn't always how the past and future World Champions operated.

The 1954 Yankees won 103 games but finished eight games behind the record-setting Cleveland Indians, which was unacceptable. Yankees general manager George Weiss and his counterpart with the Baltimore Orioles, the brilliant Paul Richards, pulled off the biggest trade in baseball history.

When you see a hitter hit long balls year after year after year, you tend to evaluate the hitter's value based only on his power numbers.

He who hesitates is lost. Or, in my experience, he who sleeps in misses the bus.

The Yankees were looking good. The assumed front-runners to nab Cliff Lee, the Yankees somehow lost him to a late arrival to the party, the Philadelphia Phillies. Apparently, Lee decided on Philly because of the "fans and a great atmosphere" and also hinted that it may have been what his wife wanted.

The Boston Red Sox really aren’t messing around this offseason. They are crossing all of their T’s and dotting all of their I’s in preparation for 2011 season.

If Boston felt they needed something this offseason, they have gone out and got it. One of the main areas that Boston needed help in this offseason was their bullpen.

The Boston Red Sox have had the best offseason of any team. They acquired and signed hitting to bolster an already sturdy lineup. They have a balanced rotation, with four pitchers that could win more than 15 games. But their bullpen needed work.

If this was done by ever-aggressive General Manager Theo Epstein, the team would be set as the best the American League—and perhaps baseball—has to offer.

The Red Sox have reportedly agreed to terms with free agent righty reliever Dan Wheeler on a one-year deal with an option for 2012.

The move appears to be the final one in Theo Epstein's reconstruction of the Boston bullpen that finished 12th in the AL with a 4.24 ERA. They also blew 22 saves, the second-highest number in the league.

With Cliff Lee returning to the City of Brotherly Love, the list of free agent pitchers looks awfully unappealing. Carl Pavano is the "best" option but few teams wish to give him a sizable contract given his injury history. However, there is a Cy Young winner available in a city that will not contend anytime soon. 

So wait. What just happened?

In the span of two weeks, the New York Yankees, my Yankees, the team that can buy any player it wants, just saw two All-Stars go to their biggest rival. Then, on Monday, we saw Cliff Lee, the guy we have been courting like a Shakespearian character for two years, settle for less money with the Philadelphia Phillies.

I am still confused, still wandering aimlessly around my house. How did this happen?

Gonzalez & Crawford